Suction cleaner dirt bag



xA s, -I -H.-B. WHITE 2' 2 0,

SUCTION CLEANER DIRT BAG 4 H Filed, May 16, 1940 2 Shee ts-Sheet" 1 INVENTOR- 1701229 J. White ATTORNEY Aug. 3, 1943. H. B. vyHlT SUCTIONCLEANER DIRT BAG Filed May 16, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet 2- Patented Aug. 3,1943 SUCTION CLEANER DIRT BAG Harry B. White, Canton, Ohio, assignor toThe Hoover Company, North Canton, Ohio, a corporation of OhioApplication May 16, 1940, Serial No. 335,481

7 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in suction cleaner dirt bags andmore particularly to a dirt bag havin a spring-actuated valve membermounted at its inlet end and so arranged that upon the attachment of thebag to the cleaner, the valve swings automatically from a normal closedposition into open position, there to be held positively until the bagis removed and the valve member again closed under spring pressure.

The object of the invention is to provide a positive closure for theinlet end of a dirt bag and particularly a bag designed to be emptiedthrough. its opposite or outer end. In the operation of emptying a bagwith openings at both ends, it is usually held in vertical position withthe inlet end uppermost and is shaken to dislodge the dirt, so thatunless the inlet end is sealed in some manner, a cloud of dust is likelyto rise and create a very unpleasant situation for the person emptyingthe bag.

In the more common dirt ba assembly, it is possible to fold the upperend of the bag in such a way as to prevent the issuance of dusttherefrom during the emptying operation, but when the cleaner isequipped with a muffler and particularly one that is assembled withinthe inlet end of a dirt bag, it is quite diflicult to close oi? theinlet end while emptying the bag without using some extraneous means,such as a piece of cardboard held firmly over the opening. Therefore, afurther object of the invention is to provide a positive closure for theinlet end of a dirt bag which includes a mufiler as a part of itsassembly, and so arranged as to close the instant the bag is removedfrom the cleaner and remain closed until the bag is replaced.

Two applications of a valve applied at the inlet end of a dirt bag for asuction cleaner are disclosed in the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a view in side elevation of a typical suction cleaner of thehandle-maneuvered type with the exhaust outlet from the cleaner andinlet end of the bag shown in section.

Figure 2 is a fragmentary perspective view of the ring at the inlet ofthe dirt bag and showing the details of the valve mounting;

Figure 3 is a modified showing of a valve mounted at the outer end of amufiier; and

Figure 4 is an enlarged detail view of the bag ring and mufiier unitshowing the mounting of the valve and the relationship of the severalparts when the bag is removed from the cleaner body. The suction cleanerillustrated in Figure 1 is typical of the standard design and consistsgenorally of a wheeled casing I having a nozzle 2 at its forward endwith its downwardly opening suction mouth, a fan chamber 3 communicatingwith the nozzle, and a suction fan 4 mounted in the fan chamber anddriven by a motor enclosed with a housing 5 supported upon the casing I.

Extending rearwardly from the fan chamber 3 is an exhaust passage 6terminating in a flanged outlet connection 6a to which is removablyattached a dirt bag I and preferably through the medium of an annularfitting or ring 8 bearing fiatwise against the flanged outlet connection611.

The filter bag I is preferably of a porous textile fabric or anespecially prepared paper, its outer end bein open but normally held inclosed position by means of a suitable clamping member (not shown)suspended from the outer end of the handle 9.

As thus far described, the cleaner follows more or less the standardarrangement of parts, this being particularly true of the bag ring 8which, as the name indicates, is merely a fiat ring with radiallyprojecting ears Ba on opposite sides which engage clamping boltsanchored in the flanged outlet connection 611 but not shown, and

a laterally projecting annular flange 8b on its outer face about whichthe somewhat restricted mouth portion of the bag is attached by means ofa clamping ring ID concealed within-a marginal hem.

' As is more clearly shown in Figure 2, the inner periphery of the bagring 8 forms an opening 8c 'of a somewhat elliptical contour with itsvertical dimension somewhat shortened, this pen ing conforming generallyto the shape of the outlet end of the exhaust passage 6 from the fanchamber.

Mounted upon the outer face of the bag ring 8 and just below the loweredge of the opening 80 is the valve member I I consisting of a thinmetal plate having substantially the same contour as the opening 80 inthe bag ring but slightly larger in its dimension so as to form aclosure therefor.

A supporting bracket I2 is fastened to the face of the bag ring as bymeans of rivets I2a and is provided at its ends with outwardlyprojecting ear I 2b between which extends a horizontal hinge pin I3,which in turn forms the pivotal mounting for the valve member I I. Alsocarried by the hinge pin I3 is a torsion spring I4 with one end bearingagainst the bracket I2 and the other against the outer face of the valvemember I I in such a way that the spring pressure is always exerted in acounter-clockwise direction to hold the valve in closed position and, toresist any movement tending to swing it into open position.

Now, it is obvious that the valve will be held in closed position unlessforced open and held against the counter spring tension. Thus, in Figure1 there is mounted along the lower edge of the outlet from the exhaustpassage a horizontally and outwardly projecting finger I5 so ca'ted asto be positioned directly above the bottom edge of the opening 80 in thebag ring with its tip end projecting a short distance above and beyondthe hinge pin l3. This finger is preferably made of a strip of metalbent double throughout its projecting portion with its end portionsspread apart at right angles, and thence riveted to the bottom and outerfaces of the exhaust passage 6 and flanged outlet connection 6a,respectively.

The function of this projecting flnger I5 is quite obvious, namely, tocontact the hinged valve member Ii just outwardly from its pivotal axisas the bag ring is fitted to its seat against the flanged outletconnection 6a, thereby swinging it downwardly into horizontal and openposition where it remains until the dirt bag is again removed, whereuponit immediately swings into closed position by the action of the torsionspring As previously mentioned, the use of a positively actuated valvemember at the inlet end of a dirt bag is especially desirable when amuffler is mounted within the lower end of a dirt bag as a part of thesame assembly. Thus, in Figure l a mufiler 16, preferably consisting ofa flexible tube Ilia of sponge rubber, encased in a wirebound fabriccovering Hib and supported in an annular channel-shaped seat lfic at theouter end of a tapered sleeve ll forming a rearward extension of the bagring 8. The sleeve I1 is provided with a flattened portion Ila, alongits bottom wall. This forms a seat for the valve and eliminates a pocketwhich would normally be formed under the valve when it is in openposition. Thus, the muffler I6 extends from 6 to 8 inches beyond the bagring and, while it has a limited degree of flexiblity whereby to yieldwith the bag as it moves with the handle, it is quite impossible to sealoff the bag mouth while the'dirt is being emptied from the opposite openend without some form of self contained closure devic such as thespring-actuated valve arrangement herein disclosed, although it is to benoted that its use need not be confined to the presence of a mufiler.

In the disclosure of Figures 3 and 4, however, the valve member ispreferably mounted at the outer end of the mufiler. As shown the muffleris similar in all respects to the one shown in Figure 1, having alimited degree of flexibility throughout its length so that it can yieldsomewhat with the movement of the bag as it swings with the handle. Thusa bag ring [8, similar to that previously described is used, and theflanged connection l9 at the exhaust outlet from the cleaner body isagain arranged at an angle of about 45 degrees to the vertical as isalso the center line of the bag attached thereto.

Forming a rearward extension of the bag ring IB is an annular collar 2|carrying the muiller 22. At each end of the muffler proper the bodyportion 22a is enclosed within channel-shaped rings 23, 23, the outerend ring 23 carrying a supporting bracket 24 for a valve member 25,consisting of a thin metal plate of circular shape mounted upon a hingepin 26 extending between the ears 24a, 24a of the supporting bracket 24.A coiled torsion spring 21 is mounted on the hinge pin 26 but in thiscase it acts to hold the valve member 25 in its open position ratherthan in its closed position over the end of the muffler, as shown inFigure 4.

Now, to control the opening and closing of the valve 25, a somewhatdifferent arrangement is required, first because the valve member is nowlocated at the outer end of the mufiler and at a distance from the bagring, and second, because the mufller itself is of a flexibleconstruction throughout its length. Moreover, with the torsion springarranged to open the valve member, the operating means in this instancefunctions to allow it to swing into open position immediately upon theattachment of the bag to the cleaner.

Attached to the valve member immediately adjacent its pivotal axis is aflexible cord 28 which passes along the top side of the mufiler andwithin a lengthwise extending passage 29 formed in its body portion 22a.Mounted at the lower end of the channel 29 is a cylinder 30 extendingendwise from the lower end of the mufiler and seating within a socket inthe outer face of the bag ring l8 adjacent the periphery thereof. Withinthis cylinder 30 is mounted an endwise shiftable push rod 3| with itslower end projecting through and beyond the outer face of the bag ringI8 and its upper end extending from the cylinder 3|] in the form of aloop 31a to which is attached the free end of the cord or flexibleconnecting member 28. And finally, a coil spring 32 surrounds the pushrod within the cylinder 30 with one end bearing against a collar 3|b onthe rod 3|, this spring 32 constantly acting to force the push rodoutwardly from the face of the bag ring l8 or, as in Figure 4, fromright to left. Moreover, the tension exerted by the coil spring 32 onthe push rod 3| is greater than that exerted by the torsion spring 21upon the valve member 25. Otherwise, the valve would not close when thedirt bag assembly is removed from the cleaner.

Now, in the act of attaching the dirt bag and the muffler assembly, theprojecting end of the push rod 3| contacts the flanged face of theoutlet connection l9, and as a result the push rod is shifted endwisefrom left-to right thereby come pressing the spring 32 and impartingsufficient slack in the cord 28 to allow the valve member 25 to swinginto open position under the action of its torsion spring 21. is closedby the stronger sprin 32 acting upon the push rod 3| when the dirt bagassembly is removed and is opened by the weaker torsion spring 21 actingon the valve member 25 when the push rod is shifted in a direction toovercome the tension of the plunger spring 32. But in either case themovement of the valve is positive and not dependent upon gravity or airpressure. And, with the valve actuating mechanism consisting in part ofa flexible connection throughout the length of the muffler, it ispossible to locate the shut-off valve at the outer end thereof and yetthe mufller is free to flex throughout its length as may be necessary.

Having set forth the invention in two of its more practicalapplications, but without desiring to limit the invention to thesespecific disclosures, I claim:

1. A dirt bag for suction cleaners comprising a fitting adapted fordetachable mounting at the exhaust outlet of said cleaner, aspring-actuated hinged valve member mounted on said fitting and normallyadapted to be held in position to close off the passage of air into saidbag, and a valve In this way, the valve operating member responsive tocontact with the exhaust outlet of said cleaner to open said valvemember and to hold the same in open position while said bag is attachedto the cleaner.

2. A dirt bag for suction cleaners comprising an annular fitting adaptedfor detachable mounting at the exhaust outlet of the cleaner andsupporting a tubular mufiier projecting into said bag, a hinged valvemember mounted at the outer end of said mufiier and including a springacting normally to hold said valve in open position, a springpressedplunger mounted on said fitting with ne end projecting therefrom forcontact with the body of the cleaner adjacent its exhaust outlet, andmeans connecting said plunger with said valve, whereby the endwisemovement of said plunger in contact with the cleaner body in the act ofattaching the bag thereto causes said plunger to be retracted againstits spring pressure and permits said valve member to open and to be heldin open position by its spring while the bag is attached to the cleaner.

3. A dirt bag for suction cleaners comprising an attaching ring adaptedfor detachable mounting at the exhaust outlet of the cleaner andsupporting within the bag a tubular-muiiier of relatively flexibleconstruction throughout its length, a hinged valve member mounted at theouter end of said muffier and including a spring acting normally to holdsaid valve in open position, a springa pressed plunger mounted on saidattaching ring with one of its ends projecting therefrom for contactwith the body of the cleaner adjacent its exhaust outlet, and arelatively flexible connecting member between said plunger and saidvalve, whereby the endwise movement of said plunger in contact with thecleaner body in the act of attaching the bag thereto causes theplunger-sprin to be compressed and permits said valve member to open andto be held in open position under the tension of its spring while thebag is attached to the cleaner.

4. A dirt bag for suction cleaners comprising a fitting adapted fordetachable mounting at the exhaust outlet of the cleaner and including amuflier extending into the bag, a valve member having hinged mounting atone end of said muffler and provided with a spring acting normally toswing the valve into open position over the end of the muiiier, and aspring-actuated member operatively connected with said valve to hold thesame in closed position when said bag is detached from the cleaner, saidmember having a portion responsive to contact with the exhaust outlet inthe act of attaching said bag to the cleaner thereby to permit saidvalve member to shift into open position.

5. A dirt bag for suction cleaners comprising a fitting adapted fordetachable mounting at the exhaust outlet of the cleaner and including amufiler extending into the bag, a valve member having hinged mounting atthe outer end of said mufiler and including a spring acting normally toswing the valve into open position, and a springpressed plunger mountedon said fitting and connected with said valve member to hold the same inclosed position when said bag is detached-from the cleaner, one end ofsaid plunger being exposed to contact with the exhaust outlet whereby inthe act of attaching the bag thereto, the endwise displacement of saidplunger permits said valve member to swing into open position.

6. In. a suction cleaner, a dirt bag having a dirt inlet adapted to beconnected to the suction system of the cleaner, a valve movable to aposition to'close said inlet to said bag when the late ter isdisconnected from said cleaner, a plunger connected to said valve andactuated upon the physical connection of said bag to said cleaner formoving said valve to open position to permit dirt to pass from saidsuction system through said inlet into said bag.

7. A dirt bag for suction cleaners comprising a dirt inlet to said bagadapted to be connected to the suction system of a suction cleaner, amuflier connected to said inlet, a valve movably supported on saidmufiler and movable .to a position with respect to said mufller to closesaid bag inlet when said bag is disconnected from said cleaner, andmeans actuated upon connection of said bag to said cleaner to move saidvalve to open position for the passage of dirt from said suction systemthrough said mufiler and inlet into said bag.

HARRY B. WHITE.

